Costa Rica — Enrique Navarro Porras Monte Copey El Alto Red Catuai (Yellow Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍒 Dried Fruit & Berries • 🌸 Floral

DETAILS

• Producer: Enrique Navarro Porras & Family
• Farm: El Alto — Monte Copey
• Region: Dota Valley, Tarrazú, Costa Rica
• Varietal: Red Catuai
• Process: Yellow Honey
• Altitude: 1,900–2,000 MASL
• Size: 250g

INTRO

From Enrique Navarro Porras and his family at El Alto — one of five named plots within the Monte Copey estate in the Dota Valley, and the result of a partnership with Koppi Roasters stretching back to 2010. A yellow honey processed Red Catuai of elegance and refined sweetness, grown at 1,900–2,000 MASL in one of Costa Rica's most celebrated growing regions. In the cup: dried fruit and berries, with a delicate florality and an elegant, clean finish.

THE PRODUCER

Monte Copey has been in the Navarro family for generations. In 2009 brothers Enrique and Josué committed to transforming the farm's approach — investing in a Penagos mechanical depulping machine and building 22 raised drying tables to slow the drying process and prevent contamination. These were the first steps in a quality programme that has grown production from 80 bags to 300–350 bags per season without any compromise on cup quality.

The estate spans close to 20 hectares across five named plots, with 15 planted with coffee. Every lot is separated by picking day, cultivar, plot, and process — and every Monday during harvest, Enrique makes the 2.5-hour drive to a lab in San José to cup all his lots, adjusting processing decisions in real time based on what tastes best. Thirty people work in the field and four at the micro-mill during harvest, with the same families returning to pick for over twenty years — trained to select only perfectly ripe cherries and to sort carefully after each picking.

Sustainable farming runs through everything at Monte Copey — environmentally friendly fertilisers only, no pesticides, and an annual soil analysis to maintain soil health and secure consistent yields. Enrique began managing the farm at just 17, and the progress he and Josué have made since is, in Koppi's words, remarkable.

THE PROCESS

The Yellow Honey process at El Alto involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Red Catuai cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness, with careful sorting after each picking 🔧 Mechanical depulping — Outer skin removed using the Penagos depulper, with mucilage retained on the bean ☀️ Raised-bed drying — Coffee dried on 22 raised tables with mucilage intact, lifted off the ground to avoid contamination and slow the drying process

The raised-bed yellow honey drying is the defining step — retaining the mucilage during drying allows the coffee's natural sugars to slowly ferment and integrate into the bean, building the dried fruit sweetness and floral delicacy that define this lot, while the raised beds ensure clean, even, and controlled drying at altitude.

THE CUP

A refined and elegant yellow honey from one of Tarrazú's most dedicated and meticulous family micro-mill operations — dried fruit and berry sweetness, gentle florality, and a clean, sophisticated finish that reflects over fifteen years of partnership between Koppi Roasters and one of Costa Rica's finest producers.

Flavour Notes

🍒 Dried Fruit & Berries 🌸 Floral